Pathways Resource Library

Tools to help people understand their options

Explore messaging, research, and resources from across the field—along with customizable, white-label tools that you can adapt, brand as your own, and use in your organization’s communications—to help you reach key audiences with language that builds confidence and expands what’s possible.

Playbook or Guidebook

Skills-Based Sourcing and Hiring Playbook

This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.

This playbook is a step-by-step guide to implementing more equitable and effective approaches to employee recruiting, hiring, and advancement by embracing skills-first talent management practices.

White Paper

Accepting that Four Year College is No Longer a Pancea

This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.

This whitepaper resource by the American Student Assistance explains the importance of valuing students’ voices in conversations about their futures, and why families and communities must be OK with their plans including different forms of postsecondary education. Coverage includes the contextual differences of the college landscape "then vs. now", the pressures of decisionmaking and college attendence, policy recommendation, college students' aspirations, and how to guide them in times of uncertainty.

Research Report

Shifting the Skills Conversation: Employer Attitudes and Outcomes of Career Technical Education

This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.

This resource provides tangible data points on employer attitudes toward Career Technical Education (CTE) and the positive return on investment CTE experiences provide for business and economic growth. Based on a national survey of more than 300 professionals actively involved in hiring decisions in in-demand fields, these new findings demonstrate that employers strongly support and see direct value in CTE. The findings also indicate that employer recognition and support for skills-focused hiring is growing and that employers back a greater public investment in CTE programs.

Toolkit

Making Opportunity Real: A Framework for Communicating About Racial Justice

This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.

This Message Manual contains research-based language and guidance for anyone communicating about racial justice and equity in education. The manual introduces a Racial Justice and Racial Equity Frame that provides guidance for communicating about justice and equity in aspirational ways that move beyond buzzwords and invite new audiences into the conversation. The guide provides research-tested language and specific examples of how to apply the frame when sharing data, crafting story-driven content, and tailoring messages for different audiences.

Blog Post

Telling the Right Stories: How Narratives Can Change Community College

This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.

The post highlights the gap between community college students' aspirations to earn four-year degrees and the reality that only a small percentage achieve this goal. It criticizes current narratives and policies that hinder successful transfers, particularly for low-income and minority students, and advocates for a shift towards focusing on credit mobility and recognition. By changing the narrative to value students' prior achievements and creating more flexible, student-centered pathways, the aim is to foster equitable educational and economic outcomes.

Research Report

Lumina State of Higher Education

This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.

Gallup and Lumina Foundation conducted a report studying the most pressing issues facing higher education. Insights cover U.S. adults' interest in pursuing higher education, what's keeping them from enrolling and what's causing currently enrolled students to consider stopping out.

Research Report

Family Voices

This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.

Faced with unprecedented change in the postsecondary landscape, America's families are wrestling with questions of college, careers, skills development and meaningful work. This study aimed to understand American parents' aspirations for their children after high school, as well as the barriers they face to following a preferred postsecondary path.

Research Report

Hispanic STARs: Smart Employers Aim for Hispanic STARs

This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.

This report highlights the significant presence of Hispanic workers who are skilled through alternative routes (STARs) in the workforce and their overrepresentation in lower-wage occupations. It discusses the barriers these workers face due to degree requirements and suggests that employers prioritize skills over formal education to improve economic mobility for Hispanic STARs.

Research Report

The Value of Community Colleges: Recent Students’ Motivations and Outcomes

This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.

This study offers new insights about value community colleges provide and the range of needs that they serve. It examines recent community college students' motivations for enrolling, and their self-reported perceptions of the value of their education and training experiences, and the degree to which they acheived their goals for enrolling.

Filters

Filters

Playbook or Guidebook

Skills-Based Sourcing and Hiring Playbook

This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.

This playbook is a step-by-step guide to implementing more equitable and effective approaches to employee recruiting, hiring, and advancement by embracing skills-first talent management practices.

White Paper

Accepting that Four Year College is No Longer a Pancea

This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.

This whitepaper resource by the American Student Assistance explains the importance of valuing students’ voices in conversations about their futures, and why families and communities must be OK with their plans including different forms of postsecondary education. Coverage includes the contextual differences of the college landscape "then vs. now", the pressures of decisionmaking and college attendence, policy recommendation, college students' aspirations, and how to guide them in times of uncertainty.

Research Report

Shifting the Skills Conversation: Employer Attitudes and Outcomes of Career Technical Education

This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.

This resource provides tangible data points on employer attitudes toward Career Technical Education (CTE) and the positive return on investment CTE experiences provide for business and economic growth. Based on a national survey of more than 300 professionals actively involved in hiring decisions in in-demand fields, these new findings demonstrate that employers strongly support and see direct value in CTE. The findings also indicate that employer recognition and support for skills-focused hiring is growing and that employers back a greater public investment in CTE programs.

Toolkit

Making Opportunity Real: A Framework for Communicating About Racial Justice

This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.

This Message Manual contains research-based language and guidance for anyone communicating about racial justice and equity in education. The manual introduces a Racial Justice and Racial Equity Frame that provides guidance for communicating about justice and equity in aspirational ways that move beyond buzzwords and invite new audiences into the conversation. The guide provides research-tested language and specific examples of how to apply the frame when sharing data, crafting story-driven content, and tailoring messages for different audiences.

Blog Post

Telling the Right Stories: How Narratives Can Change Community College

This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.

The post highlights the gap between community college students' aspirations to earn four-year degrees and the reality that only a small percentage achieve this goal. It criticizes current narratives and policies that hinder successful transfers, particularly for low-income and minority students, and advocates for a shift towards focusing on credit mobility and recognition. By changing the narrative to value students' prior achievements and creating more flexible, student-centered pathways, the aim is to foster equitable educational and economic outcomes.

Research Report

Lumina State of Higher Education

This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.

Gallup and Lumina Foundation conducted a report studying the most pressing issues facing higher education. Insights cover U.S. adults' interest in pursuing higher education, what's keeping them from enrolling and what's causing currently enrolled students to consider stopping out.

Research Report

Family Voices

This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.

Faced with unprecedented change in the postsecondary landscape, America's families are wrestling with questions of college, careers, skills development and meaningful work. This study aimed to understand American parents' aspirations for their children after high school, as well as the barriers they face to following a preferred postsecondary path.

Research Report

Hispanic STARs: Smart Employers Aim for Hispanic STARs

This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.

This report highlights the significant presence of Hispanic workers who are skilled through alternative routes (STARs) in the workforce and their overrepresentation in lower-wage occupations. It discusses the barriers these workers face due to degree requirements and suggests that employers prioritize skills over formal education to improve economic mobility for Hispanic STARs.

Research Report

The Value of Community Colleges: Recent Students’ Motivations and Outcomes

This resource may be shared with proper attribution to the organization.

This study offers new insights about value community colleges provide and the range of needs that they serve. It examines recent community college students' motivations for enrolling, and their self-reported perceptions of the value of their education and training experiences, and the degree to which they acheived their goals for enrolling.

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